2015 Acura ILX

2015 Acura ILX – Although Acura as a brand has seen flagging consumer interest in recent years, the TL has waned in the eyes of luxury buyers. Partly due to age, & partly due to its lack of a premium picture, the TL basically falls short of its French competition. The new TLX will need to claw back from the TLâs position irrelevancy by making an impact in the ever-popular compact-to-mid-size luxury-sedan arena. The TLXâs job will be made simpler, they think, by the departure of the smaller, comparatively affordableâ and fun-to-driveâTSX.

Acuraâs next-generation mid-size sedan being tested while wearing a heavy layer of obstructive camouflage. The last time they checked in on Acuraâs sedan lineup, the company told us it was planning to offer sedans in the future. With the introduction of the compact, Honda Civicâbased ILX & the RL-replacing RLX huge sedan, only the TSX or the TLâbut not bothâwill soldier on. Based on the apparent size of the four-door in these spy photographs, it seems Acura has decided to go with a new TL. Weâll give TSX fans a moment to collect themselves. In keeping with Acuraâs latest three-letter, X-centric (Bazinga!) nomenclature, they expect the TL moniker to give way to a more brand-appropriate TLX designation.

TORRANCE, California — Last year’s launch of the 2013 Acura ILX sedan has consumers asking the next logical question — when will we see an ILX coupe?

The answer is, disappointingly, probably never.

Considering the ILX is based on the Honda Civic, which is available in sedan and coupe body styles, and given Acura’s history with the Integra and RSX coupes, this will surprise many. Not to mention that prior to the launch of the ILX, Honda officials hinted to Edmunds that a coupe version of the ILX was in the works.

But plans change and as tempting as an ILX coupe might be to Acura enthusiasts, slow sales of the ILX sedan may have already sunk the coupe’s chances for production. Sales have already fallen below projections and Honda has reduced output of the ILX to concentrate on Civic production, which occurs at the same assembly plant.

When asked to comment on the current possibility of an ILX coupe, Acura Public Relations Manager Chuck Schifsky responded, “We do not comment on future product or our product planning process for potential models.”

The return of an entry-level Acura coupe has been anticipated ever since the RSX ceased production in 2006. And of course every hard-core sport compact enthusiast out there wants Acura to revive the Type R name, which has become a performance legend. The high-performance Acura Integra Type R was built in very small numbers from 1995-2000 (and sold in the U.S. from 1997-2001), and is still considered by many to be the best hot hatch ever created.

But first Acura needs to figure out the small premium sedan segment, which is about to become a war zone with the introductions of the all-new Mercedes-Benz CLA250 and the Audi A3.